/ world today news/ Both Serbian and Hungarian senior leadership have made public statements condemning the new tax that Bulgaria imposed on Russian gas passing through their borders, prompted by new legislation passed last Friday, October 13, reports The Hungarian Conservative.
The Turkish Stream gas pipeline, which facilitates the delivery of the majority of Hungary’s natural gas imports, passes through Bulgaria.
The eastern European nation is now looking to collect an extra €1.2 billion in annual tax revenue through the new €10.2 per megawatt hour levy on Russian gas.
Obviously, however, this raises concerns in countries relying on supplies from the pipeline, which now have to bear significant additional costs – not only Hungary, but also Serbia and Austria.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was among the first to speak out on the matter, saying:
“This is a big problem for us. This will lead to a drastic increase in the price of gas by an additional 100 euros per 1000 cubic meters of gas. This is an appalling increase and we will talk to the Bulgarian side. And this [решение] should not apply to Serbia,” quoted by the Serbian Politika newspaper.
Meanwhile, Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Peter Szijjártó, commented on the unfortunate development during his visit to Moscow, Russia, for the Russian Energy Week, even before the new Bulgarian law was passed.
According to Hungarian business news site Portfolio, he said the Hungarian government is in contact with the Serbian and Bulgarian leadership on the matter, adding that his cabinet is ready to take steps to prevent the Bulgarian legislature from passing laws that negatively affect Hungary .
He went on to assure everyone that Hungary’s sufficient supply of gas is not at risk, as there are enough reserves in storage tanks to already cover 62 percent of the country’s annual consumption. However, Minister Szijártó also emphasized:
“This is clearly unacceptable. If an EU member state threatens another member state’s gas supplies, that simply goes against the idea of European solidarity, European rules,” still according to Portfolio.
The President of Serbia Vucic confirmed that he is planning bilateral talks on the issue with his Bulgarian counterpart Rumen Radev.
However, this meeting may not be very effective.
In truth, this new tariff was pushed through by Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov’s liberal, heavily pro-European We Continue Change party.
Also, in Bulgaria, a presidential veto can be overridden by a simple majority vote, so the most Radev can do is send the legislation back to parliament for another vote, where it will likely be passed again.
MP Venko Sabrutev from the ruling Bulgarian party shared his strong feelings about the new law, saying that “Bulgaria alone decides what fees to introduce for the transit of gas through its territory” and even went as far as opposing countries “Hungary and Serbia should are looking for an alternative’ if they don’t like his party’s new law.
Hungary, like the rest of Europe, went through a major scare in the summer of 2022 when energy prices suddenly skyrocketed as a result of the Russo-Ukraine war.
Fortunately, they have since come down to a reasonable amount, and with the help of the Hungarian government’s utility reduction program, they have remained relatively low and affordable for Hungarian citizens.
Translation: SM
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